BOSTON -- They are halfway home, these 2019 Red Sox. And considering that things have often been a grind to get to this point, they’ll take where they are.\n\nWith a well-rounded, 6-3 victory over the White Sox Tuesday night at Fenway Park, the defending World Series champions are now 44-37.\n\n• Box score\n\nThat puts them on pace for an 88-74 regular season. You are undoubtedly noticing that is well below the team’s franchise-best win total of 108 from last season. But that’s exactly why last season was historic. It just about never happens, for any team.\n\nIt stands to reason this edition of the Red Sox is plenty capable of playing better in their last 81 games, which would vault them into the 90s in wins. That is generally what it takes to play in October.\n\nYou’ve seen evidence of that lately, with Boston reeling off 10 wins in the last 13 games.\n\n“I mean, we’ll take more obviously, but this is who we are right now and for everything that went wrong in the first half, we have what, 44 wins?” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “We’ll take it. We know we’re going to be better. We know that. I’ve been saying all along, I do feel that we have to be better. Little by little, we’re getting there but we still have to work.”\n\nSome of the stars of the first half again demonstrated their worth on Tuesday.